Charles n



- CHARLESQN."VIGNERQQI'CE Y 1 Alva-ALGAmisr'iis c m t ,sggmmmo frfiizj ri r Letters Patent no. 54 ,s24, datdoctober' 1 5, 1395.

, Be it known that 1', cH'A'R'LE'sN. YIGNERorhl "a resident of New York city, in the county Same, which improvement is iguana flied natu a ists;

and State'of New"York,'h"a've invented a new and "useful Improvement in Amalgamatiug Compounds and in' MethodsjofPreparing the I fully set forth in the following specificationl I, i a -This invention'has reference to the 'prep'a-' ration of' aimalgains ifor' use especiallyin the extraction of precious metals from their ores and its object is chiefly toenhancethejattract ive and adhesiv'e property of the mercury upon the f-prc'cious' metals, to" prevent loss of;

rom oxidation and fro'in the detrim 'y a a mental action of substancesassbciated with gold and silver ores, and ;to prolong thec'a'fli ciency'of the amalgam. Thediftic'uItiesenf counterledin carryingon the'process ofamal gamatiom such as the sickening and flours.

ing-; or granulationofjthe. amalgam, .the loss of mercury, and the like are well understood by those skilled in metallurgical operations and do not require tobe explained at le'hg'th'.

I have found thatthese difficulties can in large measure 'be avoided and that the desirable results above indicated can be realized bycombining the mercury with aluminium in the metallic state or as an alloy or compound; and the invention consists, broadly,in an amalgamating compound containing aluminium in any'of its forms. In some of its efiects aluminium acts in and on the mercury similarly to sodium, which has been heretofore employed in the well-known Wurtz amalgam, described in United States Patent No. 48,499,

I dated 'June 27, 1865. For example, it produces a polaric condition of the atoms of mercury, rendering the latter more electropositive, and hence increasing their aflinity for the relatively electronegative-metals, such as gold and silver.

:Sodium, however, is so readily oxidized on exposure to air that its efiects are not lasting and it 'must be renewed at short intervals. The presence of alu- Ininium, moreover, keeps the mercury clean and brightand in eflicient condition for a long period of time. While aluminium when combined with mercury oxidizes with great rapidity,-itis'capable of so much higher degrees of oxidation than sodium that its lasting power for the purposes in view is many times' semi No. teases. ,mo muss greaten QNot onlydoessodium loseits power I ous ores contain greater or lessguantit-ies of zinc, and when this comes'into jcontact vwith merouryon a copper plateau action (probably galvanic) takes place, the zinc being de-"' posited on the copper plate. and apparently oxidizing and driving oif-themercury. This peeling of "the mercury from theplate is one 1' fot the greatest difficulties against which miners' have 'to eonte'nd When,,.however, alujin part,according tdthe amount ofzinc presl such case. capnot be stated with certainty,

aluminium and 'its; c6nsequent elimination from't'hemercury. I Y Y In producing theefifects above, described I have used aluminium inthe pure metallic state,intf6duded into the mercury in the form of a wire or distributed through the same in granular or pulverulent form. The conditions, however, under which amalgamating plates or apparatus are used render it desirable to bind the aluminium and mercury together as firmlytas possible, and for this reason I prefer to use an aluminium compound or an aluminium alloy with ahigh percentage of aluminium, the other metal acting as a binding agent to form a close union between the mercury and aluminium. For this purpose I have employed in my experiments 'al loys of copper and aluminium, zinc and aluminium, silver and aluminium, and many others, the eifects upon the amalgamating properties of the mercury being always as above pointed out, though in some instances more pronounced than in others. Without, therefore, confining myself to any specific form of aluminium, or to any specific method of using it, I will explainthe mode of procedure from which the best results up to the present time have been obtained. I reduce metallic aluminium to the form of powder or of granules, such as will pass through sixt mesh'screen, though the size of the particles is not a matter of importance. This pulveru- .eht i'huthe ore. 3 The action-of the aluminium 0 'but theres'ult described is. believed to be due; a to theioxidation' ot thezinc along with the v IOO . t S umis'em'ployed with the mercury, this i ob ectionable 'action tis" prevented wholly or 2 w en" lent or granular mess I treat by chemical re- Farntus in the'usual end well-known manner. Y:

agen-tste-leeil-itate its introduction into the usteadot dissoiyinfi the common snlt wlth mercury and to increase its afiinity therefor: the copper sulphate have found that it will 1 For this purpose it has been found that; the answer justas well to add lt,.a little at a time,

it 5 action of sulphate of copper produces favorto the, solution afterthe 'latter has been 5 IO solve itwitli a smell "quant able results, though other oompbuudsot cop; brought 'in ccntactjwith the aluminium. per (as nitrates, chlorides, audlthe like) or The'described process of treating a'soluother metsliio salts might be employed. Au tion vet sulphate :or other copper salt with v 'suming that sulphateof copper beldb aIumInium is notlimited initsindustrisl aptyfione-toilyie p'er nations to the reparation of an amalgam 5ocent.) ot commonsaitin wsten'mahip aver! cr ex'traction o precious metals. Its I strong-mesona,satsjl'fateii'solution-l isss- "a redneinicopper' from its lution' islnew 'dilutedhyaddt about two sulphate cr otber ccmponn fvolnmesef waterto'one ot theso utiol," The Iclai'ni as my'iuventlon-z-j I T I L :5 powderedor granular .alu'mlnium is'lplaced 1. The described com iticn for 3113818: 5

in egisss or earthen vessel, maki' ugaleierofi mation otpre'cidus meta ,ccmposedot mer about cne elghth of an inch in depth, The en haying aluminlum incorporajlted there;

dilute "soluticuotcopper snl ate and salt wit ,aasotjorth.

isthe'n poured in until the tquid 'tcrms a1 .8. An amalgamatiugcompoeition li'er use-in to layer of about an inch to. an inch and a half the extraction of precious metals from their 66 above the aluminium. These directions are creq sald, composition being composed of given as more convenient to-ifollcw i-u racmenualuminium and a binding ens-as tice than proportious; indicated .by' fw gh-t; set fort i Theyrmipflbe varied according. to oil-cum? 1;. The described compoeitionfor milks a5 stances -witliin'oonsiderable limits. Upon m'atlon ofpreeious metals, said compositioh 65 a mixing. asomewhat energetic chemi i ram being composed ct mercury, aluminium and 'ticutakes place, gradually suheidin as'the .co pen'a's settorth.- result of which a precipitate, whic vjean The methodct preparinganamslgani'st aluminiumqgopper oompound'in the form 0!, lug composition;ccnsisting'intreatingsin 30 e pulpy reddish-brown mass, is found inithe mtnium wlth'a metallic salt (such assulphate e vessel. The solution is then pouredoflj'The of copper) and commonsalt and mixing the I precipitated massor residueshould;heathenaluminium ccmpound thereby'preduced' with V oughly wsshed-betore'usingr 'Ihe mercury,@mercury 'substantially asdeecribed. .f a is thenadded in hiiqhPIOPOlfiiOIIllhgtOfldhfl ln-testim'ouy whereot'l halvesigned this 5 a thick paste,;:g',nayish 150010,, and fjci speq iiicatiun in the presenceot'twosubscrib- 75 should betakenthat-it beiproperiymixedgby i'ng'witne-ee. n 1

any suitable kneading ors'tirringprooe'ssy CHA RLE SN. VIGNERONQ 1 The paste thus obtained msy-be'spresdycn; v Witnesses." j v the smalgsmatiug plates or thrown into bsr PHILIP MAURO; a

4e rels or employed nny amnlgamntlng fap HOWARDTHAYEB KtIiGSBtInY. 

